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High Profile Sexual Assault Trial Moved To Another County

Jury selection for the sexual assault trial against a former University of Wisconsin student will begin February 26th in Jefferson County. That will be the first of seven trials involving Alec Cook, who faces two dozen charges. Pre-trial publicity on the news and social media has made finding an untainted jury in Dane County unlikely, according to the defense. Cook’s first trial involves charges of sexual assault, false imprisonment, strangulation and suffocation. A U-W-Madison student told police Cook became violent during what started as consensual sex in October 2016. When that accusation was covered by the media, other alleged victims stepped forward.

Cook is charged with Six counts of 2nd-degree sexual assault/use of force, One count of 2nd-degree sexual assault/sex organ injury, Three counts of 3rd-degree sexual assault, Two counts of 4th-degree sexual assault, Two counts of strangulation and suffocation, Three counts of false imprisonment, Two counts of stalking, Four counts of disorderly conduct.